WTB: Part no. 55405-52640 (sedan dash bezel) -- used or cheap please...

[CrankyOldMan]

Why does it cost $100? Because there's hundreds of thousands of dollars that go into designing, developing, testing and proving that it passes the OEM specifications for color fade, durability, heat/cold/humidity, scratch resistance, etc. It's a cosmetic part, so there's more scrutiny that goes into making and shipping it. It's also large enough to need an injection mold machine the size of a few minivans end to end. I'm pretty sure the Tonka truck would fall short on each and every one of those tests. (source: I work in an automotive manufacturing product test lab) =)

All of that said, I'm glad you were able to get a good price on it.

[tk-421]

Originally Posted by CrankyOldMan

It's also large enough to need an injection mold machine the size of a few minivans end to end. I'm pretty sure the Tonka truck would fall short on each and every one of those tests. (source: I work in an automotive manufacturing product test lab)

If the molds are clearly the most expensive part of the process, then why not sell the plastic parts at as low a price as possible so as to (a) move more product and hence justify having invested in said molds to begin with, and (b) prevent lower-quality copies from being made with their brand name on it, which earns them exactly $0 dollars?

Car makers shouldn't really care whether they make a profit on replacement parts. They should worry about having happy costumers driving around in cars that look great even after years of (ab)use. If a few cheap plastic parts do the trick, then IMHO they should basically be giving those parts away.

Sorry for being slightly .